Bunny Garden 2 Remake Debuts at CJ2026 With No Release Date Yet

Metal Max: Hagane no Kisetsu Remake Gets First Public Hands-On at ChinaJoy 2026

The remake of Metal Max: Hagane no Kisetsu made its playable debut at ChinaJoy 2026 — nearly 20 years after the original landed on NDS in 2006. That original release remains one of the most divisive entries in the series, largely because of its touch-screen-only controls and a string of severe bugs. The remake is being developed by Chinese publisher Joystick, which secured the license directly from rights holder Success — a deal the project lead, a diehard fan of the series, reportedly pushed for by approaching Success himself.

To a certain generation of RPG players, Metal Max needs no introduction. It's a franchise built on wasteland tanks and a stray dog companion — deliberately scrappy, and better for it. I never played one myself, but the name stuck, and seeing it back on a show floor still turns heads.

The remake's most meaningful fix is the control scheme. The original's touch-only interface meant poking at the NDS screen to fight battles — fiddly, imprecise, and punishing. That's been rebuilt for gamepad and keyboard, which finally makes it play like a proper game rather than a tech demo. Visually, the team kept the pixel-art style but added widescreen HD support and a retro filter, so it holds up on a modern screen without sanding off the original look.

The smartest design call, though, isn't technical. The first playthrough stays faithful to the original; quality-of-life improvements only kick in from the second playthrough onward. It's a neat structure — nostalgia first, convenience second — and the notorious game-breaking bugs from the original have been patched out, so no more losing your save file to a crash.

One caveat is worth flagging. The Metal Max IP was owned by Kadokawa Games until 2022, when it was acquired by Cyagmes, while the Metal Saga rights sit with a separate company. With the franchise's rights split across multiple owners like this, it's an open question how quickly further remakes can follow.

There's no release date yet, but the platform list is complete: PC (Steam), PS5, and Switch. The Switch version is the obvious pick — a slow tank crawl across a wasteland is exactly the kind of game that suits handheld play. Pricing is the last unknown. Barring a nasty surprise, this is an easy buy.